Crypto Money Moves: How Trump's Office is Making Millions

President Donald Trump has found a new way to make money while in office. He is using his position to boost his crypto ventures. It all started with a dinner at his golf club in Virginia. Trump invited the top buyers of a crypto token called $Trump. These buyers paid millions to attend. The dinner and a White House tour the next day brought in about $148 million for Trump and his partners. This money came from anonymous and foreign buyers. This move has raised eyebrows, to say the least. This is not the first time Trump has used his office to make money. He has a history of exploiting his position for personal gain. Scholars and ethics watchdogs have criticized him for this. They say it is a clear example of corruption. Steven Levitsky, a professor at Harvard University, has never seen such open corruption in any modern government. Trump's crypto dealings are not just about making money. They are also about loosening regulations. Since Trump took office, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has eased regulations on cryptocurrency ventures. This has benefited Trump and his partners. It has also benefited big campaign donors who lead crypto firms. Trump's use of his office to increase his wealth through his crypto businesses is unprecedented. It has sparked criticism from scholars, congressional Democrats, and some Republicans. They say it is a clear example of corruption. They worry that it will create big problems for the crypto industry and for ordinary investors. Trump's crypto ventures are less than a year old, but they are already worth billions. This is a big shift from his comments to Fox News in 2021, when he said that bitcoin was a scam. Now, Trump's new pro-crypto policies have benefited big campaign donors and Elon Musk, the world's richest person. Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is a real estate billionaire who helped found World Liberty Financial (WLF). Trump's two oldest sons, Eric and Don Jr, and Witkoff's son Zach have played key roles in promoting WLF in the Middle East and other places. Trump's crypto schemes are the Mount Everest of corruption. This is according to Democratic senator Jeff Merkley. He and the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, introduced the “end crypto corruption” bill. This bill aims to ban Trump-style crypto corruption. It would curtail shady crypto practices by all elected federal officials. Some former congressional Republicans are also incensed by Trump's blatant use of his presidency to peddle $Trump. They say that nobody should be allowed to use their public positions while in office to enrich themselves. A member of Congress would not be permitted to engage in the kind of memecoin activities which the president has been doing. Trump's crypto critics worry that the president's strong push for less industry regulation may create big problems. The crypto industry has been battered by some major scandals. These include ones involving North Korean hackers. The industry has also been plagued by concerns about its lack of transparency and risks. In an annual report last September, the FBI revealed that fraud related to crypto businesses soared in 2023. Americans suffered $5. 6 billion in losses, a 45% jump from the previous year.